Angela Rayner responds to critics who slammed her Stockport accent

Angela Rayner has hit back at those who criticised her Stockport accent following a series of television appearances.

The deputy leader of the Labour Party, who was born and raised in the Greater Manchester borough, has been criticised for her northern accent on a number of occasions in the past.

But today, Rayner took to social media to publicly defend the way she speaks, noting that it is something that reflects her ‘integrity, honesty and decency’. 

Both last night and this morning, Rayner appeared on television to discuss the ongoing Downing Street garden party scandal, something that the Prime Minister admitted to and apologised for today.

However, she fell victim to a number of internet trolls who criticised her northern accent, with some even claiming she is ‘incapable of speaking grammatically correct English’. 

In response, Rayner tweeted: “I’ve been on the media this morning so my accent and grammar are being critiqued.

“I wasn’t Eton educated, but growing up in Stockport I was taught integrity, honesty and decency.

“Doesn’t mater how you say it. Boris Johnson is unfit to lead.”

This came shortly before Boris Johnson admitted to and apologised for attending the Downing Street garden party during the first national lockdown in May 2020.

Parliament TV

Addressing the commons at today’s PMQs, the Prime Minister offered his ‘heartfelt’ apologies before saying he had ‘learned enough to know there were things we simply did not get right’. 

Johnson admitted he ‘went into that garden just after 6pm on May 20th 2020 to thank staff but ‘believed implicitly that this was a work event’.

Much to the outrage of MPs, he then added: “With hindsight, I should have sent everyone back inside. I should have found some other way to thank them. I should have realised that even if it technically fell within the guidance, there would be millions who did not see it that way.”